The South African President Jacob Zuma announced that he was HIV negative this Sunday as the nation kicked off the first and ambitious AIDS prevention program. Zuma shared his test results to promote "openness". He goes on to state:
"We have to work harder ... to make all South Africans understand that people living with HIV/AIDS haven't committed a crime," he said. "We have to expand the knowledge and understanding of the epidemic to protect affected individuals and families. The stigma arises from fear, and fear from ignorance."
Overall, the government aims to get 1/3 of the population tested by June 2011 by offering HIV exams to anyone who goes to a clinic regardless of their visit.
I think this program is going to really start to help the AIDS and HIV problem in South Africa. After reading some other articles, I found that South Africans don't know a lot about AIDS or HIV and it's stigmatized because of it. In fact, the article points out the polygamous history of the nation. It's no big deal for people to have multiple partners and this is a major problem because it makes the spread quicker and more wide-spread.
Zuma has faced some recent controversy over his past extramarital behavior. Opponents pointed out that his discretions put the health of his three wives at risk. While his actions are questionable, his openness about the AIDS topic is very new to South Africa. His predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, at one point denied the connection between HIV and AIDS and for this his dispersal of life-saving medicines was slow.
I think South Africa now recognizes that it has a major health problem with one third of it's population. This new program has received very positive attention, which it should and we can only hope that the program ameliorates the situation.
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